Starting structure



Patented July 18, 195() STARTING STRUCTURE Hoyt Clay Puett, Kamloops, British Columbia,

Canad Application October 9, 1945, Serial No. 621,253

3 Claims. (Cl. 11B-15.5)

My invention relates to improvements in starting structures which are adapted for use in horse racing.

The objects of the invention are to provide means in the stall of a starting structure for keeping each horses neck and head aligned with his body so that all of the horses may be in an equally good position to start away from their individual stall; to provide means whereby each horse can see the horse standing beside him and;

wherein his forward view may be substantially unrestricted, so that the horse may be free from that nervousness which so frequently results through being confined in the closed stall of a starting structure. A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the gates of a stall may open into substantial alignment with the Walls of said stall, and to provide a fixed forward extension to the side cushion pads of the stall so that the horse will be unable to contact any part of the gate with his legs or body as he passes through said gates.

Figure 1 is a general view of the invention showing the front portion of one stall of a starting gate structure. Figure 2 is a plan view showing the front portion of one stall.

The numeral I indicates generally a starting 'gate structure having stalls 2, one only shown,

each stall having side wall frames 3 suspended from a top frame 4. Intermediate the height of each side wall frame a padded cushion 5 extends horizontally. These cushions are of substantial depth and have side faces 6 which may be contacted by the legs of 'a horse standing between them prior to the start of a race. The cushion faces 6 of a stall are so closely spaced apart as to keep a horse in alignment with his stall.

The cushions 5 extend forwardly of the starting gate posts 8, as at IIJ, said cushion extension being of lesser depth than the cushions 5, but of the same general width adjacent the gate post and tapering off as at II to a rounded end I2.

Each stall 2 is tted with front gates I4, each of which is divided into lower and upper panels I5 and I6 respectively and a horizontal space I1 to permit said gates to swing beyond the face of the cushion extension and to come to rest substantially along the centre of the cushion extension I0 and in substantial alignment with the side wall frame 3 and come to rest along the dotted lines X on the drawing, when in fully open position.

A post I3 of each side wall frame 3 hingedly supports a panel 20, which is held at all times l parallel to its correspondng gate I4 by a panel 2l which is hingedly connected to said panel 20 and to the horizontal centre of the gate. The panel 2l obviously remains lat all times parallel to the side wall frame 3 and as the gates are closed, as shown in the drawing, to a point where the gates of each pair are substantially at an angle of 90 degrees to each other, the opposing panels 20 Willbe at the same angle and the space between the panels 2| will be close enough to keep the head of the horse in the stall substantially in line with his body. The jockeys knees ,will be somewhat behind the panels 20 in the unrestricted stall space.

The upper panels IB of the gates I4, the panels \2Il and 2l are preferably litted with transparent material such as plastic or glass, so that while the horse in each of the stalls is prevented from sidewise movement and his neck is held against excessive movement, his vision is by no means impaired and consequently he is not seriously excited while awaiting the opening of the gates.

When the gates are allowed to spring open, the gates I4 and the panels 20 and 2l recede substantially into the plane of the side wall frames 3, thus leaving the horse and rider a clear unrestricted space, so that he can get away with ease and both horse and jockey are fully protected by the cushion extensions I0 against touching any part of the gate or other enclosing members.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a starter gate structure having a stall dened between spaced partitions and a pair of gates hinged to the front end of the partitions to form a V-shaped closure for the end of the stall, a wing panel adapted to restrain sidewise movement of a horses'head when in the stall, said panel being hingedly connected intermediate the width of each gate and a hinged linkage connecting the free end of the wing panel to the adjacent partition to cause said wing panel to move in parallelism with and towards said partition as the gate is opened.

2. In a starter gate structure having .a stall defined between spaced partitions and a pair of gates hinged to the front end of the partitions to form a V-shaped closure for the end of the stall, a wing panel adapted to restrain sidewise movement of a horses head when in the stall, said panel being hingedly connected intermediate the width of each gate and a second panel hingedly connected to the first panel and claim 1, said wing panels being of substantially transparent material.

HOYT CLAY PUETT.

- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS hingedly connected to the adjacent partition, :0 Number Name Date said rst panel being adapted to move in paral- 1,870,768 Comfort et al- Aug 9, 1932 lelism with the partition and said second panel 2,211,457 COWell Aug. 13, 1940 being adapted to move in parallelism with the 2,319,420 MackSOud May 13, 1943 www. 

